Action / Drama / Horror / Thriller

Synopsis

Katie McGovern is a struggling actress living with her husband and her student brother, who is visiting. She attends an audition that she found in the paper and is selected to shoot a short video which will be sent to the director for his approval. Mr. Murray, the man holding the audition, picks Katie up and takes her to a remote mansion where they shoot the video. Katie is selected to replace the previous lead in the film who looks remarkably like her. Soon, however, things begin to look as if they are not what they seem. Katie soon realizes she is in danger and attempts escape.

Katie McGovern is a struggling actress living with her husband and her student brother, who is visiting. She attends an audition that she found in the paper and is selected to shoot a short video which will be sent to the director for his approval. Mr. Murray, the man holding the audition, picks Katie up and takes her to a remote mansion where they shoot the video. Katie is selected to replace the previous lead in the film who looks remarkably like her. Soon, however, things begin to look as if they are not what they seem. Katie soon realizes she is in danger and attempts escape.

Tech specs

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by cstotlar-18 / 10

Excellent Pennmanship

In terms of camera work, lighting, pace and direction in general, this
is a fine piece of film-making. Penn knows all the bells and whistles
as usual and Mary Steenburgen is quite amazing in her roles. I'm put
off as I am so often by the many critics who look to film for
verisimilitude (the "if it couldn't or wouldn't ordinarily happen in
real life" brigade) that sets us so far behind our European
counterparts. The film has a remarkable sense of entrapment and
claustrophobia in the dead of winter in the middle of nowhere. As far
as whether the events really could happen like that, I suppose I was
more interested in the style, craftsmanship and general concept than of
probabilities or even possibilities. The camera work and rhythm at the
end of the film are magnificent. As for the "damsel in distress"
nonsense, how many thousands of movies fall into that genre anyway? Are
they all uniformly bad because they use a successful formula? This is
the kind of movie where it's fun to sit back and enjoy the fireworks
without bothering about split infinitives and the like.

Curtis Stotlar

Reviewed by telegonus8 / 10

Old-Fashioned Thriller

This Arthur Penn-directed remake of My Name Is Julia Ross represents
yet another attempt to revive an old Hollywood formula, in this case
the lady-in-distress thriller. There are of course some new, kinky
wrinkles in this film, which has some grisly moments. For the most part
the movie worked well for me. Mary Steenburgen makes an attractive and
sympathetic heroine as a woman trapped in a snowbound mansion by two
very strange men. There are some shocks along the way but in the end
the movie is fairly conventional, a technical exercise, if you will,
featuring some good, offbeat performances. The movie, in other words,
delivers the goods, and is unashamedly old wine in a new bottle. It's
no classic, but if its genre appeals to you, it's reasonably effective
in its quiet way.

Reviewed by Joyce Hauchart7 / 10

Glad I watched this one on an exceptional hot summer night

The critics for this movie in the local newspaper and also on IMDB said this movie is a give away thriller. I totally disagree. It may be true that it takes too much time before we are confronted with the new personage Steenburgen has to play, but overall this is a nice Mousetrap. The actors are very well casted on I was sometimes surprised with the plot twists. Music helps keeping up an eerie atmosphere. Don't watch this movie if you're alone at night